April 30, 2013

Palak Pulao Recipe - Indian Spinach Rice - Step by Step Recipe

My mom-in-law made this amazing Palak Pualo (Keerai Sadam or Spinach Rice) when we had gone back to India last year. I very diligently took pictures as she cooked and then duly forgot to take a picture of the final dish. The palak pulao taste lingered in my mind for a long time and I finally made it a few days back. Spinach rice is a great one pot meal and doesn't need any elaborate side dishes as it's balanced and nutritious on its own. Also, since we use the pressure cooker for making this spinach rice, it makes our job much quicker and easier.

What I loved about her spinach rice recipe is the ground coconut-coriander leaves paste that adds a wonderful flavour and makes the rice delicious. Since spinach is a bit bland on its own, I highly recommend adding all the ingredients mentioned so that you can serve it as a one-pot meal.

Since TH and I love spinach in pretty much any form - his favour dish ever is Palak Paneer - this rice is a welcome lunch for us. You can use any variety of spinach that's available, just make sure to use green spinach and fresh leaves if you can.

Let it cook for a while. The spinach will let out water so there's no need to add any more at this time.

5. In the meantime, grind the ingredients under "to grind" with some water to a smooth paste.

6. Add this to the spinach mixture and mix well.

Next, add the rice and some salt and mix again (we transferred the spinach rice mixture to the pressure pan now to finish the cooking process. As mentioned, you can do all the steps in a pressure cooker pan since this is a one-pot rice dish). Add about 2.5 cups water, close the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles or about 15 mins. The amount of water required will depend on the type of rice you are using.